A new kid on the block?: Introducing MS-5

[Jose EB5AGV]

 

[J.F.N.]

Love all these old classics coming back again, now with fresh new components and a price point making it possible to actually own them, thank you Uli, no matter what your agenda may have been, I love it!

 

Only thing missing is a tiny little detail, a patch memory system, then these, all of them released so far, would actually be EXTREMELY useful.

 

Loved the Prophet 1, but ended up grabbing a Toraiz AS-1 instead, as it has patch memory (with loads of space as well!).

 

 

[Stokely]

Hardly a "little detail" to me, it means I'm out of the market for it.   Well to be fair I'm only interested in polys anyway but whatever I'd use would be for live gigs, and I'd need patches.   Hell just give me 3 led numbers for patches at least....

[J.F.N.]

10 minutes ago, Stokely said:

Hardly a "little detail" to me, it means I'm out of the market for it.   Well to be fair I'm only interested in polys anyway but whatever I'd use would be for live gigs, and I'd need patches.   Hell just give me 3 led numbers for patches at least....

 

Irony online is a b*tch.. 🤣

[AnotherScott]

That's the problem with analog authenticity. There's no way to give it digital preset recall without making some change to its original 100% analog design. Well, there was one solution I saw (I wish I remember where!), a set of mechanical arms that physically moved the knobs and sliders into the desired positions when you recalled a preset.

 

I gigged with no-preset synths back in the day (including, as it happens, a Roland SH-7). But today, as viscerally enticing as I find boards like this, I have a hard time imagining where I'd actually use them. I don't gig with a wakeman-like array these days, I don't even really need a dedicated synth, much less one that has no preset recall. And as for recording, my stuff just isn't very synth heavy, and I'm not that fussy about the subtleties of the sounds, I can find something that works even if I don't have that pure analog vibe. But still, yeah, I want this. 😉 Doubt I'd buy it though. If anything, I'm in scaling down mode.

[J.F.N.]

1 minute ago, AnotherScott said:

That's the problem with analog authenticity. There's no way to give it digital preset recall without making some change to its original 100% analog design. Well, there was one solution I saw (I wish I remember where!), a set of mechanical arms that physically moved the knobs and sliders into the desired positions when you recalled a preset.

 

I gigged with no-preset synths back in the day (including, as it happens, a Roland SH-7). But today, as viscerally enticing as I find boards like this, I have a hard time imagining where I'd actually use them. I don't gig with a wakeman-like array these days, I don't even really need a dedicated synth, much less one that has no preset recall. And as for recording, my stuff just isn't very synth heavy, and I'm not that fussy about the subtleties of the sounds, I can find something that works even if I don't have that pure analog vibe. But still, yeah, I want this. 😉

 

That's what gave Dave Smith the advantage leading to enormous success back in the days! 😍

[Franz Schiller]

I lusted after an SH-5 for many years. But nowadays, my memory (as in my actual brain) is not stellar, so it's hard to justify a preset-free synth.

 

(But not impossible.)

[Tusker]

I am not in the market for it. I already have a little Moog which does the job for me.

 

It seems primarily useful as a bass synth or a lead/spacey synth in a live setting. The former it is very well equipped to do. The latter? Well, it's almost there as a spacey synth (with the very attractive ring mod and noise) but a player would need to add reverb/delay, complicating the gigging package.

[DeltaJockey]

OMG, I can't believe it's been resurrected. I used to own an SH5 but my memories of it aren't so romantic. This revision sounds like it has modern circuit stabilization, as it sounds a lot more rock solid than the original. Is that onboard reverb I hear in the demo? Maybe not so authentic.

The SH5's diagonally cut box lid always reminded me of a sewing machine, and it was quite weighty of course. I found it to be more of a one trick pony. Potentially great signature sounds, but not a synth to own as your only keyboard, even back then. It was difficult to keep tuned for long and you were constantly fiddling the knobs.

 

A shocking thought for some folk, but I never sold it, I disassembled it for parts, and threw the case away. It had very nice shielded coaxial audio cable between the modules, and fully solder dipped circuit board tracks, built to last even in the tropics. I ended up making a rack mount MIDI switch box with all that nice shielded cable.

Feel free to chastise me over it.😬

 

Sorry for the reminiscing😁

 

The MS5, probably not a synth for me either

 

 

 

[DeltaJockey]

3 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

Well, there was one solution I saw (I wish I remember where!), a set of mechanical arms that physically moved the knobs and sliders into the desired positions when you recalled a preset.

Roland did have a solution for this. I remember getting a book of printed SH5 templates with the synth. When you set up a sound you wanted to keep, you'd pencil the knob positions on the front panel template. Each filled-in page was a patch!

[ElmerJFudd]

They’ll do this, then that will signal Roland to release a VST that sounds even closer to the original.  😉

[jazzpiano88]

This made me want something like this.   I can put my OB6 on the C7 though.

 

 

[David Emm]

I had an SH-7 for a while, but even through effects pedals, it felt too thin. I traded it to someone more knowledgeable for some better-grade effects. It did help me get a better handle on analog synthesis at a good time. It was FUN where other synths felt more serious. I'd still hand it to a kid today if I wanted to teach them signal flow.

 

I had an RSP-550 (mmmm...), several noisy Boss half-rack effects (which still had good character) and a bushel of mostly Boss pedals. Roland keys never came back into view until I bought a Juno-1 on a casual lark, where I got it for a stupid-low price. That paid off in a huge way, even though I thought it was puny... until I plugged it into the RSP. Holy bleep.  

 

ANYWAY.... I don't have the right kind of nostalgia for this sort of trip down memory lane. I'm spoiled by my big stash of polys. 💪

[J.F.N.]

2 hours ago, DeltaJockey said:

Roland did have a solution for this. I remember getting a book of printed SH5 templates with the synth. When you set up a sound you wanted to keep, you'd pencil the knob positions on the front panel template. Each filled-in page was a patch!

 

Today, replaced by mobile phone camera 🤣

[DeltaJockey]

12 minutes ago, J.F.N. said:

 

Today, replaced by mobile phone camera 🤣

Yes, but then you'd have to have a mobile phone for every patch. A paper book is much more compact than say, 100 mobile phones😁

[ElmerJFudd]

39 minutes ago, DeltaJockey said:

Yes, but then you'd have to have a mobile phone for every patch. A paper book is much more compact than say, 100 mobile phones😁

May I interest you in a Synth Book?

[DeltaJockey]

oh good grief! How would I have the time to play with 100 of those?😁

 

We all talk about Korg's ios synth apps, Yamaha seem I little quieter with theirs. Not crossed paths with it before.

 

We really have so many options these days. It's time to take stock and consciously only focus on what really floats our boat.

 

Nice to check out the newest offerings, but not necessarily take everything onboard. This MS5 is one example for me to take an interest in but not add to my already bloated collection!